Is This Justice?
by Kylie Anderson
Summary: After Fannysmackin', Aaron James seeks revenge on Greg in the deadliest way. As Greg is lying the parking lot, he has to wonder, is this justice?


Is This Justice?

Headlights blinded Gregory Sanders as he walked out to his car in the parking garage after a double-shift. He covered his squinted eyes. The sound of an engine roaring and coming closer startled Greg. Before he could even realize what was happening, he knew. His life was to end.

Greg never saw the car. All he felt was the sheer pain of impact. He rolled over the hood, cracking the glass. He fell on to the asphalt and heard several snaps. Blood was running all over him. He could barely move.

A familiar shadow climbed out of the car. "Now you know how my brother felt," A voice sneered. "Say hello to Satan for me,"

With that, Aaron James jumped back into the car and drove off. _My brother_. Greg knew what Aaron James was talking about. He was referring to the night when Greg became a murderer. The night when he killed Demetrius James. Of course, he had no choice, but still…Greg took away a life.

As he lay on the asphalt dying, Greg wondered if this was justice. He wondered if this was right. Perhaps this was what he deserved. The guilt was building inside of Greg for ages and maybe this was the best way. Maybe this was how it was meant to be.

But then, Greg remembered a name. Stanley Tanner, the tourist that Greg saved. Remembering that name made Greg remember why he had done what he had done. He did it to save not only his life, but an innocent man. _This is not justice._ Greg realized suddenly. He knew then that he had to live.

The pain that Greg felt was immense. He attempted to move his arms to get his cell phone, but that simple action was too much. Greg then tried to call out, but his voice was too weak and shaky. He knew it was from shock. He knew that he had to act quickly, but he had no energy. "Help…" Greg croaked softly.

No one would hear him. Just staying awake was too hard…Greg began to close his eyes. _Just taking a little nap… _Greg thought. _Wait! Wait! Don't close your eyes! If you do, you won't ever wake up!_ Another part of Greg screamed.

Darkness seemed to speak for itself as Greg fell into it.

((-))

Sara opened the door to the parking garage. "I tell you Nick, I'm right." Sara said with a grin. "You totally scared more people with the mustache."

Shaking his head, Warrick smiled. "Ah, I'm going to have to agree with the lady on that one." Warrick replied.

Nick put up his hands in defense. "Hey, hey! I was just asking what you thought of it." Nick said. "So do you think I should grow it back?"

Warrick and Sara both laughed. "No way!" Sara answered swiftly.

As they walked through the isles, something caught Nick's eye. It appeared to be a lump in the middle of the road. "Check that out," Nick said nodding towards the lump.

Curiously, the three of them approached closer. Only a few yards away, Sara was able to make out what the lump was. "Greg!" Sara shouted as she ran towards him.

Right behind her, Warrick and Nick followed. They kneeled beside him. Nick quickly attempted to find a pulse on the bloody CSI. Greg didn't even look real. He was covered with blood and his body was covered with bruises that were beginning to form. "He's alive!" Nick announced.

Warrick already had his cell phone out dialing for help. "Hold on Greggo," Nick muttered.

((-))

The ambulance came in four minutes, but it felt like four hours. The paramedics quickly lifted Greg into the ambulance and whisked him away. Warrick, Sara and Nick could only stand in shock. Catherine and Grissom rushed out of the building into the garage shortly after the ambulance left.

"I received a call saying that a CSI was injured. What happened?" Grissom asked looking among them to see who was missing.

Catherine could already tell who it was. "What happened to Greg?" Catherine asked dreadfully.

All Sara could do was shrug. "We don't know. We were getting ready to leave when we…when we saw him…He was barely breathing." Sara said shakily.

A young police officer trotted up to them. "I've reviewed the security tapes. Your CSI was hit by a very large SUV about five hours ago." The police officer reported. "We got a license plate and some police officers have been sent over to pick the man up."

Nick felt rage rising up in him. "He was lying here for five hours? No one noticed?" Nick asked angrily.

No one responded to this. While they were all thinking of that, Grissom had a more pressing question. "Who was the man?" Grissom asked promptly.

"Aaron James," The police officer replied.

((-))

The wait in the hospital was the worst. Grissom thought that he had lost the young CSI on that dreadful night months ago, now it was like history was repeating itself. What surprised Grissom most of all was how long Aaron James waited to take his revenge. He waited months to pounce on Greg.

No one really spoke during the long wait. Catherine, Sara, Nick, Warrick and Grissom simply sat in the silence…hoping, praying… A male doctor immerged from beyond several doors. "Are you here for Mr. Sanders?" The doctor questioned to Grissom.

Afraid that his voice would show the powerful emotion of fear, Grissom merely nodded. "I'm very sorry to tell you this, but Mr. Sanders's situation has taken a turn for the worse. We have been operating on him for the past three hours to stop the internal bleeding. We are now finished with the surgery and in normal situations, he should be awake by now. However, Mr. Sanders is not. We believe he sustained serious head injury along with other unexpected injuries." The doctor said heavily. "He is not in a coma per say. Rather, I'm sorry to say this, but he is slowly dying."

The news was finally delivered. Greg was dying. Never to laugh, never to joke…again… "Well aren't ya'll doing something? Can't you figure out what's wrong? Can't you do something to fix it?" Nick asked angrily.

The doctor looked wearily. "We're trying sir, but from where I'm standing, there's nothing we can do." The doctor said softly.

Catherine closed her eyes. To her, Greg was her second child…her son. She was protective over him and after the explosion at the lab, she vowed to watch over him. Had she failed him? What would life be like without a smiling Greg to lighten the mood? "How long?" Catherine croaked.

Shrugging, the doctor sighed. "There's no way to tell." He replied.

"Can we see him?" Warrick questioned.

The doctor looked around the waiting room. "Are Mr. Sanders's parents present?" The doctor asked.

Shaking his head, Grissom felt a stab of pain. It was then that it really sunk in. Greg was going to die. "No, we've contacted them, but they won't be here for hours." Grissom said shakily.

"Normally, we would only let family in…" The doctor said slowly.

Sara stood up quickly. "Please," Sara said softly. "We're the only family that's here right now."

Nodding, the doctor sighed again. "He shouldn't be alone when…it ends." The doctor said quietly. "Room fifteen…I'm sorry."

Without waiting another second, the team left to find room fifteen.

((-))

The blinds were closed giving the room a dark, dreadful feeling. Greg was wrapped in so many pads and gauzes, Sara wasn't quite sure if it was him. Tears slid down Catherine's face as she rushed to Greg's side. She gently fixed the bed sheets in a motherly fashion.

Warrick stood next to the bed and had a look of disbelief. "Oh Greggo…" Nick muttered standing next to Warrick.

Grissom, who never showed any emotion, let a single, silent tear roll down his face. "Why?" Sara whispered.

No one answered because they had no answer. "Greg," Catherine said softly.

Greg lay motionless and it was because of that, that they knew. It was the end. "I'm sorry," Warrick muttered.

It was silent as they stood around Greg, waiting for the heart monitor to stop beating, as they knew it would. "'Rick…" A small voice croaked. "Why are you sorry?"

The familiar voice surprised them. They never expected to hear it again. "Greg!" Catherine exclaimed.

His eyes were only open a bit, but he could see everyone gathered around his bed.  
"Not exactly how I pictured my deathbed to be…more pretty girls and less guys…" Greg muttered.

Tears came to up Catherine's eyes and Sara bit her lip. Nick gave a small smile. "Greg, you gave us a real scare." Nick admitted.

"Yeah, well, I'm lucky. I can only imagine how… Demetrius James felt…" Greg said quietly. "Aaron…he's just a kid who lost his brother…"

Nick shook his head. "Greg, Aaron's a guy who attempted to kill you." Nick said firmly.

Sighing, Greg knew what they were trying to say. "I'm not saying what he did was right, but it's understandable." Greg said softly. "But an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind…"

"Gandhi," Grissom said speaking for the first time. "Greg, what you did was right. You saved a man and yourself. Anything else and you and he would both be dead. Demetrius James unfortunately died, but you never meant to kill him. Unlike Aaron James, you were just trying to do the right thing."

Greg gave a slight nod. "I know, but I didn't sign up for any of this." Greg said quietly.

Warrick gave a little chuckle. "Greg, none of us signed up for half of this stuff." Warrick replied.

"I didn't sign up to get kidnapped and buried alive." Nick said.

Catherine nodded. "I never signed up to meet a guy who cut his girlfriend's finger off and lead me on a wild goose chase." Catherine answered.

Sara smiled. "Yeah, I definitely didn't sign up from some of the stuff that happened to me." Sara said gently.

Although this made Greg feel slightly better, he still felt something was amiss. He would never stop blaming himself for what happened. "I took a person's life and I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that." Greg told them softly.

"It gets easier in time." Catherine admitted. "It's terrible that it does, but this job gets easier in time. After you've seen sixty kids killed, it doesn't hurt as much, but it still does."

Greg sighed. "Gris, you didn't call my parents, did you?" Greg asked suddenly.

Grissom merely nodded. "Yes," He answered shortly.

A small smile appeared on Greg's lips. "My mother's going to ground me now…" Greg said jokingly before falling into silence.

The team slipped quietly out the door leaving Greg to sleep peacefully.

((-))

Outside the hospital, as everyone was leaving due to the fact Greg's parents arrived, Grissom's cell phone rang. He answered it quickly and the others watched him curiously. "That was Brass. Aaron James committed suicide when the police attempted to arrest him." Grissom said dryly.

Nick raised his eyebrows. "Suicide?" Nick repeated.

Grissom nodded. There was silence between the group and they weren't sure whether to feel pleased that he was dead or upset that Aaron James would never truly be punished for his crime…

((-))

_Five Weeks Later _

Greg had gotten out of the hospital only a week ago. He was still weak and his injuries still hurt. But he was alive. At that point, Greg didn't care that he was again stuck in the lab. He was just happy to be alive.

As Greg walked past the reception area, he heard a woman shouting. "I need to see Greg Sanders!" The woman shouted.

"Ma'am, unless this is an emergency…" The voice of a secretary said calmly.

Looking around the corner, Greg saw who the woman was…and she saw him. "You! You!" Mrs. James spat at him angrily. "You took away both of my sons! You killed them!"

Surprised at the outburst, Greg had no clue how to respond. "Mrs. James…" Greg began.

Mrs. James began to jab her finger into his sore chest. "You are a murderer! You have no clue what you took away, do you? My boys were good kids! And you're not even going to pay for taking them away from me! You deserve to die!" Mrs. James shouted.

The sound of yelling had attracted the attention of Catherine, Grissom, Nick, Sara and Warrick along with several other lab techs. "My boys are dead…" Mrs. James moaned as she suddenly began to sob.

She began to sink to the floor and Greg held her, despite the pain that he felt in doing so. "I'm so sorry…" Greg said softly. "I'm sorry…"

Continuing to sob on the ground, Mrs. James just cried harder. "They were good boys…and now they're dead…" Mrs. James said through her tears.

"Mrs. James, what happened to you and your sons is horrible, but it was their choices that drove me to mine." Greg said quietly. "I wish that your son had not come at me that night. I really do."

This seemed to catch Mrs. James's attention. She stopped crying and slowly stood up. "So do I," Mrs. James replied quietly. "I'm sorry Mr. Sanders. I…I need to blame someone…"

Greg nodded. He understood how she felt. "Do you need someone to take you home?" Greg offered gently.

Mrs. James glanced at him. "Don't think for a second that I don't hate you for what you did…" Mrs. James said firmly.

"I wouldn't expect anything less Mrs. James." Greg replied honestly.

She looked at him. "I hope I never see you again." Mrs. James said before turning away.

Greg turned to face his co-workers. The expression on their faces was nothing less than surprise… and perhaps a bit of pride. "You're a good person Greg." Nick whispered as Greg passed him.

Without another word, Greg walked down the lab halls as if nothing had happened. He was going to move on with his life now, but he vowed never to forget that night.

**The End **

A/N- If you liked this story, check out my other stories.

Kylie Anderson


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